JERUSALEM (AP) — Hamas freed six Israelis on Saturday in the last scheduled release of living hostages by the militant group under the current stage of a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
In all, a total of 33 Israelis are being freed during this stage — including eight who are dead. Five Thai hostages have also been freed separately. Sixty-three hostages, including the body of a soldier held since 2014, remain in Gaza.
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Israelis watch on a live broadcast as the first two of six hostages to be released in Gaza by Palestinian militants are handed over to the Red Cross, in 'Hostages Square' in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Israelis watch on a live broadcast as the first two of six hostages to be released in Gaza by Palestinian militants are handed over to the Red Cross, in 'Hostages Square' in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Israeli hostages Tal Shoham left, and Avera Mengisto are escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Israeli hostage Omer Shem, centre, is escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Israeli hostage Eliya Cohen, centre, is escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Israeli hostage Omer Wenkert, centre, is escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Israeli hostages Eliya Cohen, left, and Omer Shem Tov are escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian fighters stand next to a coffin containing the body of Oded Lifshitz, as the remains of four bodies are handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. Israel has identified three of the bodies as hostages and said the other was of an unknown person. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A woman holds two children at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, after Palestinian militant groups handed over four bodies to the Red Cross in Gaza. Israel has identified three of the bodies as hostages and said the other was of an unknown person. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A man holds a teddy bear at the so-called 'Hostages Square' in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, after the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, were handed over by Palestinian militant groups to the Red Cross in Gaza. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Palestinian fighters stand next to a coffin containing the body of Oded Lifshitz, one of four Israeli hostages, to hand it over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A militant stands next to the coffins containing the bodies of hostages, from right to left, Shiri Bibas, her two children, Ariel and Kfir and Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted before their are handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A woman reacts at the so-called 'Hostages Square' in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, as the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, are handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross in Gaza. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
An Israeli soldier holds his cellphone as he walks into "Hostages Square" in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, as Palestinian militant groups hand over the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, to the Red Cross in Gaza.(AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A woman holds two children at "Hostages Square" in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, after Palestinian militant groups handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, to the Red Cross in Gaza. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A woman reacts as a convoy carrying the coffins containing the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, just handed over by Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, drives by a road near Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A man holds a teddy bear at the so-called 'Hostages Square' in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, after the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, were handed over by Palestinian militant groups to the Red Cross in Gaza. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Israeli captive, Eli Sharabi, who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, stands on a stage escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
People attend a rally calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, in front of the U.S. Embassy branch office in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, ahead of the planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
The remains of four Israeli hostages have been returned in a transfer that was marred when Hamas handed over the wrong body for Shiri Bibas, an Israeli mother of two young boys abducted by militants. After a tense standoff, her remains were returned and identified early Saturday.
The final four sets of remains are expected to be returned in the coming days.
Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. More than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Israel is releasing nearly 2,000 prisoners and detainees during the first phase of the ceasefire in exchange for the hostages.
Here are details on the hostages taken on Oct. 7, 2023:
Total captured: 251
Hostages released in exchanges or other deals: 141, of whom 4 were dead
Hostages still in captivity: 62, of whom Israel has declared 35 to be dead
Hostages in captivity who are soldiers: 13, of whom Israel has declared 7 to be dead
Bodies of hostages retrieved by Israeli troops: 40
Hostages rescued alive: 8
Non-Israelis still in captivity: 5 ( 3 Thais, 1 Nepalese, 1 Tanzanian), of whom 2 (1 Thai and 1 Nepalese) are believed to still be alive
Separately:
Hostages released who were held before Oct. 7, 2023: 2
Meanwhile, Israel retrieved the body of one soldier held in Gaza since he was killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war. The body of a second soldier killed in 2014 remains in Gaza.
This story has been updated to correct the number of hostages taken on Oct. 7, 2023, who remain in captivity. It is 62, not 61. It also corrects the number of those in captivity Israel has declared dead. The number is 35.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Israelis watch on a live broadcast as the first two of six hostages to be released in Gaza by Palestinian militants are handed over to the Red Cross, in 'Hostages Square' in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Israelis watch on a live broadcast as the first two of six hostages to be released in Gaza by Palestinian militants are handed over to the Red Cross, in 'Hostages Square' in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Israeli hostages Tal Shoham left, and Avera Mengisto are escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Israeli hostage Omer Shem, centre, is escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Israeli hostage Eliya Cohen, centre, is escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Israeli hostage Omer Wenkert, centre, is escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Israeli hostages Eliya Cohen, left, and Omer Shem Tov are escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian fighters stand next to a coffin containing the body of Oded Lifshitz, as the remains of four bodies are handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. Israel has identified three of the bodies as hostages and said the other was of an unknown person. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A woman holds two children at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, after Palestinian militant groups handed over four bodies to the Red Cross in Gaza. Israel has identified three of the bodies as hostages and said the other was of an unknown person. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A man holds a teddy bear at the so-called 'Hostages Square' in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, after the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, were handed over by Palestinian militant groups to the Red Cross in Gaza. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Palestinian fighters stand next to a coffin containing the body of Oded Lifshitz, one of four Israeli hostages, to hand it over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A militant stands next to the coffins containing the bodies of hostages, from right to left, Shiri Bibas, her two children, Ariel and Kfir and Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted before their are handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A woman reacts at the so-called 'Hostages Square' in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, as the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, are handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross in Gaza. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
An Israeli soldier holds his cellphone as he walks into "Hostages Square" in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, as Palestinian militant groups hand over the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, to the Red Cross in Gaza.(AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A woman holds two children at "Hostages Square" in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, after Palestinian militant groups handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, to the Red Cross in Gaza. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A woman reacts as a convoy carrying the coffins containing the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, just handed over by Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, drives by a road near Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A man holds a teddy bear at the so-called 'Hostages Square' in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, after the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, were handed over by Palestinian militant groups to the Red Cross in Gaza. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Israeli captive, Eli Sharabi, who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, stands on a stage escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
People attend a rally calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, in front of the U.S. Embassy branch office in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, ahead of the planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
